"We've just got to make sure that mentally he's there," Woodson said. "And I can't burn him physically."

Smith underwent surgery in July to repair his left patella tendon and a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee and Woodson will limit his minutes to around 30 against San Antonio.

Smith said on Saturday that he still lacks explosiveness in his knee and needs to work on his conditioning.

"I have good days and bad days," the 28-year-old said.

Smith re-signed with the Knicks in July, inking a three-year, $18 million contract. He raised eyebrows around the league by electing to have surgery a week after signing his contract rather than earlier in the offseason. The timing of the procedure caused Smith to miss most of training camp. He played in the Knicks' final preseason game and began serving his suspension in the season opener.

"I can't wait (to return)," Smith said on Saturday. "I'm anxious more than anything. I just want to do so well for my teammates."

Smith should help boost a Knicks offense that ranks 17th in efficiency (points scored per 100 possessions.

He should also provide a scoring punch for the Knicks' second unit. Last year, Smith averaged 18.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.7 a.ssists to earn his first career Sixth Man Award. He struggled in the playoffs though, hitting just 33 percent of his field goals. He was also suspended one game for elbowing Boston's Jason Terry in the face.

Smith blamed himself for the Knicks second-round loss to Indiana but said on Saturday he's no longer fixated on his playoff struggles.

"I really try to leave last season in last season and try to treat every year as a new year," he said. "You can't really hold grudges."

There's a chance Smith will end up in the starting lineup as the season progresses. Woodson has said Smith and Iman Shumpert will battle for the starting shooting guard position.

But with Tyson Chandler sidelined for 4-6 weeks with a fractured right fibula, it makes the most sense for Smith to come off the bench at the moment. Andrea Bargnani is starting at center in place of Chandler so the Knicks need Smith's scoring off the bench.

Woodson will start Raymond Felton, Pablo Prigioni and Shumpert alongside Carmelo Anthony and Bargnani on Sunday against the Spurs. That lineup helped the Knicks to a 101-91 win over Charlotte on Friday night, improving them to 2-3 on the season.

"I liked what we saw (Friday), so we're going to roll with that again (Sunday) and see where we are," Woodson said.

There’s one person even angrier than Knicks owner James Dolan about the 2-4 start and Sunday’s San Antonio slaughter.

That’s part-time power forward Kenyon Martin, who had to watch the entire 120-89 Spurs’ nightmare from the bench. He was shackled by the Knicks medical staff’s new platoon system with Amar’e Stoudemire. On Tuesday, Martin was snappish about the whole subject — another sign of the team unrest.

With coach Mike Woodson ready to change his starting lineup Wednesday in Atlanta in The Guarantee Game, possibly inserting J.R. Smith, the Knicks are a mess.

Martin, the backup battling chronic ankle issues, trashed the Knicks’ performance and said he wishes he could have been let loose on Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter in the disgrace at the Garden. That night, Dolan guaranteed victory in Atlanta on stage at a Manhattan club while playing with his blues band.

“Sunday wasn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination not just for me but for the whole organization — to go out there and lay an egg like that on your home floor,’’ Martin said after Tuesday’s practice. “People pay hard-earned money to come see us play. We shouldn’t put a performance like that out there.’’

Woodson explained he didn’t play Martin in Sunday’s game because the score was too lopsided and wanted to stick to the platoon with Stoudemire in which they rotate games.

“It wasn’t worth doing it,’’ Woodson said.

However, Woodson has said the platoon isn’t set in stone and he could play both players if it’s not a back-to-back scenario.

The whole arrangement appears to be bugging Martin and it has been brewing since preseason when he wasn’t thrilled about playing in only the finale to rest his ankles.

Woodson said Martin will play in Atlanta and Stoudemire will sit. But Martin will be back on the pine Thursday when Dwight Howard, Jeremy Lin and the Rockets invade the Garden.

Martin is also on a 15-to-20 minutes restriction as set by the Knicks medical staff. Martin said it was “difficult’’ to sit during the San Antonio debacle.

“That’s been y’all and Woody,’’ Martin said edgily of the platoon and minute-restriction guidelines. “I’ve told you all I’m fine. Every time you ask me, I’ll give you the same answer, I’m fine — whatever the minutes is.’’

“It was difficult for me to watch any game from the bench, not just a loss. I want to play. I’m a competitor, man. It’s all about winning. It’s all about the team. [But] I want to play.’’

When asked if he’s certain of the platoon guidelines, Martin railed: “You keep talking to Mike about the guidelines. I’m going to worry about us getting better as a team.

“I told you all before. I’m not going to go back and forth with the medical and those numbers. You keep throwing out these minutes. I don’t care about all that. … Guidelines are something for the papers.’’

Last month, Martin said he wouldn’t “press the issue’’ in preseason, but would during the regular season. With the Knicks defenseless against San Antonio, Martin’s energy and toughness could have been used.

“We got to play defense at the beginning of the game like we’re down. We can’t wait to be down and then turn the switch on,’’ Martin said. “By that time we’ve given teams confidence. We just have to have a sense of urgency from the beginning of the game. We can’t think because we’re the Knicks, we can beat every team. A lot of last year isn’t holding up. Teams have gotten better. Teams got pride.’’

Talks between the Knicks and Nuggets centered around a deal that would send Iman Shumpert to Denver for forward Kenneth Faried have intensified in recent days, the Daily News has learned.

According to a league source, no deal is imminent, although the struggling Knicks feel they need to make a move to bolster their banged-up front court.

Tyson Chandler is out at least one month after breaking his leg last week while both Amar'e Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin have been placed on a minutes restriction because if their health.

Shumpert, a former first-round pick, has fallen out of favor with both head coach Mike Woodson and owner James Dolan. And with J.R. Smith promoted to the starting lineup at shooting guard for Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Hawks, Shumpert will likely lose his starting spot once Chandler returns.

Faried, a native of Newark, N.J., is an undersized power forward but his work rate makes him one of the NBA's top rebounders.

The Nuggets have been a long-time trading partner of the Knicks dating back to Dolan's decision to move Marcus Camby for Antonio McDyess. Of course, the Knicks most famous deal with Denver was the blockbuster deal to acquire Carmelo Anthony.

The Knicks considered signing free agent forward Louis Amundson last weekend before he signed with New Orleans on Monday. In order to sign Amundson the Knicks would have been required to release a player but elected to pass.

ATLANTA — With J.R. Smith making his first start of the season Wednesday night in Atlanta, the future of Iman Shumpert remains up the air.

Though Shumpert will start in a three-guard alignment against the Hawks, it’s clear the Knicks will put Shumpert to the bench when injured center Tyson Chandler returns in a few weeks.

According to sources, Knicks GM Steve Mills has spoken to several teams about Shumpert, but those conversations are in the initial stages, including the long-rumored Knicks interest in Denver’s rebounding power forward Kenneth Faried, who reportedly was being shopped in October.

Faried was drafted in Shumpert’s class in 2011 and their salaries match up. On Oct. 21, The Post reported new Nuggets personnel director Jared Jeffries was in Green Bay, Wis., scouting the Knicks just as the Faried rumors were heating up and had dinner with Mills before the preseason game.

However, the Denver Post reported Wednesday the Nuggets have little interest in sending Faried, a Newark native, to the Knicks for Shumpert. The Nuggets just lost center Javale McGee to a stress-fracture injury, giving them a lack of depth up front.

Knicks coach Mike Woodson was ticked at Shumpert for leaving Las Vegas after just one summer league game in July to go to China. Knicks owner James Dolan also was said to be irate because Shumpert originally didn’t want to show up to Las Vegas, and Dolan threatened to have him traded.

Woodson has been critical of Shumpert since the preseason, calling him a young player with a lot of room to grow offensively. Woodson also has made it a point to say repeatedly how stacked the Knicks are at the shooting-guard position, calling it at times a “logjam.’’

Former Knicks executives Donnie Walsh and Glen Grunwald passed on Faried in the draft to take Shumpert at No. 17 because they didn’t feel Faried had the length to be a top-notch rebounder. But Faried has proven to be an fierce boardman, with career averages of 8.6 rebounds and 26 minutes.

An angry Mike Woodson threatened to install a Twitter policy in the wake of J.R. Smith’s latest social-media feud with Brandon Jennings, who criticized Smith’s brother and Knicks teammate Chris. Woodson said he will “address’’ Smith about his latest flap and they spoke before Thursday’s game against the Rockets.

The reigning NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year defended his little brother and appeared to threaten Jennings on Twitter. Jennings, now with the Pistons, criticized Chris Smith for even being on an NBA roster. The NBA is reviewing the situation.

Wednesday night, Jennings wrote: “Wait wait wait JR smith brother is in the NBA but @PoohJeter & @BBROWNLAU isn’t. Call me hater but not Rollin!!!” One of the players, point guard Bobby Brown, was nearly signed by the Knicks this summer before going to China.

The tweet was later deleted. J.R. Smith fired back with on Twitter with a message of his own — also later deleted — in which he said he would send his “street homies” to Detroit. The Knicks face the Pistons Tuesday in Motown.

“No respect for these lil kids who pop at the mouth on twitter an then want to delete they tweets,’’ Smith wrote.

Smith said before the Rockets game he wasn’t threatening Jennings.

“Threatened? No,’’ Smith said. “There’s a way of threatening someone and that’s not the way to publicly threaten somebody. I know Brandon. We have a pretty good relationship before this. Hopefully we’ll continue it afterward.’’

Woodson wasn’t pleased. “I got wind of it and we’ll address it after the game,’’ the Knicks coach said. “If you’re going to tweet, tweet something positive. I don’t know the social-media game. I deal with you guys and keep it moving.”

Smith was fined by the NBA in his first season as a Knick in March 2012, for tweeting a photo of a nekkid woman in his hotel room in Milwaukee.

When asked if he could install a policy, Woodson said it was a good idea.

“It might come to that,” he said. “You just gave me a good idea. I like that.’’
Smith wouldn’t disclose what Woodson said to him and said he hasn’t spoken to the NBA.

“I don’t know what to expect,’’ Smith said. “I didn’t think it was a big deal, apparently it is. I’m always getting in trouble with Twitter. I don’t know what it is. I’m trying to shake it.’’

Smith said he is tired of his brother taking flak for making the Knicks roster.

“It happens every day. People criticize him, telling him what he deserves and doesn’t deserve,’’ Smith said. “I think he works hard for what he does.
“I was definitely frustrated, tired of people picking on my little brother. It is my little brother. I’m going to step up for him — good, bad or ugly.’’
Smith wouldn’t say whether Woodson has banned him from Twitter.

“We spoke,’’ Smith said. “I don’t know if he wants me to talk to you about it.’’

Chris Smith also got in on the action, responding to the slight on Twitter: “If they hate, then let them hate and watch the money pile up‼ everyone have a blessed day from yours true.. jr smiths brother lmao…”

Smith is making $491,000 this season, but is costing the Knicks $2.1 million because of the stringent luxury tax. He is earmarked for the D-League and speculation is he was kept as a lure for J.R. Smith to re-sign for less money with the Knicks.

Smith said he’d like to get Jennings’ number before they face off next week to talk it out. “It’s not that serious,’’ Smith said. “I go to L.A. in the summer and [we] hoop together.’’

Sources have told The Post Shumpert is on the trading block and Knicks president/general manager Steve Mills is discussing scenarios with teams in an attempt to get frontcourt help and alleviate a shooting-guard glut.

According to Shumpert, Woodson told him what he told the media. Shumpert should be flattered teams are interested in him and take it as a compliment. But Shumpert didn’t say he’s in the clear.

“There’s nothing I can do about it,’’ Shumpert said after Thursday’s 109-106 Houston heartbreaker. “Got to keep playing and limit distractions. I just have to play hard.’’

Asked if he wants to stay a Knick, Shumpert said, “I just want to play ball and try to win. We’re in a slump at home and trying to fix that.’’

Shumpert has fallen out of favor with the organization and Woodson, who has been hypercritical of Shumpert since preseason. One person connected to the team feels he is viewed as a “head case’’ by some of his superiors.

****

Woodson said for now the Kenyon Martin-Amar’e Stoudemire platoon is off after getting approval from the medical staff.
Martin played both ends of the back-to-back, including Thursday’s loss to the Rockets. Martin got in for just 9:59 after going 16 minutes in Atlanta.
Stoudemire will still play every other game. He had a rough 5:03 outing in the first half Thursday when the Knicks were outscored by 10 points. Stoudemire was 0-for-3, getting his inside shot blocked once.

****

The Knicks are 0-4 when allowing 100-plus points. … Thursday was the 30th 40-point game of Carmelo Anthony’s career.

Carmelo Anthony scored 45 points Thursday, but the points that could have won the game got wiped away by an intentional foul and referee Scott Foster’s whistle.

Anthony’s 3-point miracle shot that could have forced overtime or even won it was waved off with five seconds left as the Knicks lost again to the Rockets in a foul-plagued, controversial 109-106 decision at the Garden. It was fourth straight home loss for the 3-5 Knicks.

It gave Jeremy Lin his third straight win over the Knicks since departing for Houston, as the Rockets swept both games last season. The same defensive problems existed Thursday night. Lin finished with 21 points in 29 minutes, and the Knicks lost despite Anthony and Andrea Bargnani (24 points) combining for 69 points.

The Knicks, who started last season 10-0 at home, still are looking to rediscover the magic formula at the Garden.

“It was a tough one to lose, especially with the effort we put forth,’’ Anthony said. “We have to get over this hump at home. I am at a loss of words.’’

Anthony could have been the hero in Lin’s second return to the Garden with a benefit of a call. For Anthony, it was a similar situation to the game in Chicago on Halloween when he missed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds in the Knicks’ 81-80 loss to the Bulls.

This time, trailing by three points, Anthony drained the 3-pointer, but it didn’t count as referee Foster ruled James Harden intentionally fouled Anthony far enough before the release. After getting hacked, Anthony threw up a prayer, and it sailed through the net as the Garden erupted.

Instead of a potential four-point play, it was ruled a non-shooting foul. With the Rockets in the penalty, Anthony had just two free throws. Coach Mike Woodson screamed for a review, Anthony argued vehemently, shaking his head, and the fans booed. Anthony made both free throws to cut the deficit to 107-106 with 5.0 seconds left, but they fell short.

“It was a tough call, but last year we put a new rule in for these situations and how we go about them,’’ Foster told a pool reporter. “The initial contact was before he started to turn, while his back is to the basket, and then he flings it up.’’

Woodson said he thought the play was reviewable.

“I am up there screaming to try to get it reviewed,’’ Woodson said. “I thought it was close enough to have that play reviewed but they never entertained it.’’

Foster said his judgment on that type of foul is no longer reviewable.

“There’s nothing in the rule book — and there’s 14 triggers — that allows us to review that for continuation,’’ Foster said. “The only thing we can review is whether it’s a two or a three if we’d allowed it to be a made basket.’’

Anthony tried to miss the second free throw but it went in, giving the Rockets the ball up 1. The Knicks fouled Harden and he made both free throws with 2.9 seconds left to make it a 3-point bulge. With no timeouts left, J.R. Smith raced to halfcourt and missed at the buzzer high off the backboard.

Anthony did enough complaining on the court and said he was ready to let it go.

“My thoughts don’t mean anything at his point,’’ he said. “It doesn’t matter if I thought it was a good or not. No reason to keep harping on it. I’ve seen it multiple of times. I don’t want to see it again.’’

According to Anthony, the referees told him they didn’t review it because there were less than two minutes left in the game — contrary to Foster’s postgame comments.

The Rockets have lost two games with late 3-pointers this season and coach Kevin McHale said they have been practicing fouling on the catch at length.

“Houston informs us before the play they are going to take a foul,’’ Foster said. “The initial contact is way before what probably everybody else thinks. It’s a push, a slap and then another slap but we’ve already called the foul on the initial contact. Now he turns and throws it up. It’s not able to be scored that way.’’

“He lost the ball up high at first and that’s when I fouled him initially,’’ Harden said. “Then he finally gathered himself and shot it.’’

For Knicks fans, it was a tough loss to swallow, especially on a night Bargnani was so solid on both ends, defending Dwight Howard, who scored just seven points, and making 9-of-12 shots. Anthony scored his season high, making 17-of-30 from the field, hitting 9-of-11 free throws and grabbing 10 rebounds.

“I thought [Bargnani] did a great job defensively, staying in front of him, taking charges, making it tough on him,’’ Anthony said.

New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith has been fined $25,000 for directing hostile and inappropriate language to Detroit's Brandon Jennings via his Twitter account, the league announced Friday.

On Wednesday, Jennings sent out the following tweet, which was later deleted: "Wait wait wait JR smith brother is in the NBA but @PoohJeter & @BBROWNLAU isn't. Call me hater but not Rollin!!!"

J.R. Smith responded with a tweet later that night appearing to threaten to send his "street homies" to Detroit, presumably to confront Jennings. Smith also wrote that he had "no respect" for Jennings because of the apparently disparaging comments he directed at Smith's younger brother, Knicks guard Chris Smith.

J.R. Smith said Thursday night that he didn't mean to threaten Jennings and that he was simply defending his younger brother.

"Threaten? No. There's a way to threaten somebody and that's not the way to publicly threaten somebody," Smith said.

Smith has gotten in trouble on Twitter in the past. In March 2012, he was fined $25,000 by the NBA for posting "inappropriate pictures" of a semi-nud3 woman on his Twitter account.

As covered here earlier in the week, sources close to the process say that no Iman Shumpert deal is imminent.

However ...

More and more folks around the league see some sort of Shumpert deal materializing sooner rather than later, given that he’s New York’s only real a.sset of value to make an in-season move and with the Knicks increasingly confident that they’ve got enough at the position to handle Shumpert’s exit now that J.R. Smith is back and with rookie Tim Hardaway Jr. looking good early.

Word is that the Nuggets do have a level interest -- just not if the Knicks keep asking them to part with Kenneth Faried in exchange -- while Sacramento is also said to be gauging how Shumpert might fit in.

The reality, though, is that the Knicks had no chance of getting the Nuggets interested in a Shumpert-for-Faried swap without picks to send Denver, too. And the Knicks are essentially bereft of tradeable picks for years.

Yes, plural.

They don’t have an available first-rounder to sweeten a trade until (yikes) 2018. And the best fully unencumbered second-rounder they can put on the table is also in 2018.

Two months after getting hit with a five-game suspension by the NBA for failing a third marijuana test, J.R. Smith has been disciplined by the league again.

In his second fine for twitter abuse in 20 months, the Knicks guard was whacked with a $25,000 penalty Friday for “directing hostile and inappropriate language to another player via his Twitter account, in violation of NBA rules.’’ And Knicks coach Mike Woodson is not happy.

Smith recently dodged another Twitter fine, according to a source. On April 20, the renegade shooting guard issued a tweet “Happy 4-20.’’ The NBA mulled disciplining Smith over the tweet, but decided against it, feeling it wasn’t direct enough. April 20 is a day commonly a.ssociated with marijuana use. Sure enough, Smith got nailed four months later for marijuana use in violation of the league’s drug policy.

On Friday, the NBA took action over another offensive tweet from the fingertips of Smith, who went to verbal war this week with the Pistons’ Brandon Jennings.

Smith appeared to threaten Jennings via twitter when he wrote he would send “his street homies” to Detroit. Smith was responding to Jennings’ tweet that Smith’s younger brother, Chris, doesn’t deserve an NBA roster spot over Bobby Brown and Pooh Jeter. The Knicks face the Pistons on Tuesday in Detroit.

On Thursday, Woodson said he would “address’’ the matter with Smith and threatened to shut down his Twitter account.

“There’s got to come a time where you stop putting yourself in that position,” Woodson said Friday on his ESPN radio show. “You can’t keep putting yourself in that position. It’s going to come a time when you keep doing it, eventually no team is going to want to deal with you. You got to learn from it. Those are the things where I’m trying to get this young man to do.”

This is Smith’s second $25,000 fine for tweeting in a long list of transgressions. He was a.ssessed a similar fine in his first season with the Knicks for tweeting a photo of a nud3 woman in his hotel room in Milwaukee.

Smith said Thursday his tweet toward Jennings wasn’t a threat, but rather “frustration’’ over his brother taking flak.

Coach Mike Woodson and Iman Shumpert barked at each other on the Garden court Thursday during the Knicks 109-106 loss to Houston at the Garden.

After the exchange, Shumpert walked away from the coach with noticeable disgust and sat on the bench. If their suspect relationship is improving, it wasn’t apparent during the back-and-forth.

Shumpert is on the trading block, and Woodson hasn’t exactly eased the combo guard’s nerves — even after their meeting when the Knicks played in Atlanta on Wednesday. The Knicks face the Hawks again on Saturday at the Garden.

Carmelo Anthony, who is Shumpert’s locker mates at the Garden, said he’s worried the trade chatter will distract Shumpert. Anthony also talked to him about the situation, admitting, “It can get to you.’’

“I have to, I have to,’’ Anthony said about communicating with Shumpert. “We were all in that situation before. Names will always come up. People will always try to figure out what’s the best thing. It’s going to happen. For me I have to be there and have his back and be there for him.

“I know it’s kind of hard for me, or him to listen to that,’’ Anthony added during his foundation’s event in which he distributed food boxes at the Boys Club in The Bronx. “Especially when you hear your name in trade reports and trade rumors. I have to tell him, just focus on basketball, everything else will take care of itself.

“I think when you are a talent like that everyone wants you. That just goes to show you what kind of player he is — for everybody to want you, to be on everybody’s radar.”

After the loss to Houston, Shumpert said there’s “nothing I can do about it’’ regarding trade talk and said he’s trying to “limit the distractions.’’

Anthony, who has been subjected to trade and free-agency talk throughout his career, said he knows it can be stressful.

“It can get to you, it can get to you,’’ Anthony said. “When you’re hearing your name in trade rumors, you can take it two ways, you can take it that people really want you or people don’t appreciate you.’’

According to sources, Knicks president Steve Mills is shopping Shumpert to see if there’s frontcourt help he can add while also removing a shooting-guard glut. Because rookie Tim Hardaway Jr. is playing well, there could be a minutes crunch. Woodson wants J.R. Smith to remain as a starter.

During last February’s trade deadline, a report surfaced the Suns asked about Shumpert in an exchange for Jared Dudley. The Knicks nixed it and Woodson said at the time Shumpert was “a big piece of the future.’’

Woodson has not repeated that line the past few days, only that trade rumors are “part of the business’’ and he still has to play hard while “still in a Knick uniform.’’

On his ESPN radio show Friday night, Woodson said, “I can’t tell any player they are not going to be traded. I’m not in position to do that.”

Woodson has had a problem with Shumpert’s c*cksure attitude for some time, and according to a source, some of his superiors view the Georgia Tech product as “a head case’’ because he always doesn’t take coaching well. Shumpert’s decision to play just one summer-league game in Las Vegas also didn’t sit well with the organization.

The Suns still could be interested in Shumpert. The Lakers, led by former Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni, aren’t a bad candidate either.

D’Antoni is one of Shumpert’s biggest supporters and reprimanded NBA a.ssistant coaches for not naming him to the Rookie-Sophomore game in his first season. Shumpert wound up on the First-Team All Rookie Team in 2012.

Houston’s power forward Omar Asik is on the trading block, too, but the Knicks would have to add salary to a Shumpert package that makes it a difficult exchange. Plus, the Knicks have no first-round picks to deal.

The Pacers also aren’t about to help out the Knicks with a trade, but Indiana adviser and former Knicks president Donnie Walsh still is a fan. Walsh drafted Shumpert in 2011 with the 17th pick in the draft over Denver’s Kenneth Faried, whom the Knicks were attempting to acquire, to no avail.

“Iman had all the ingredients to be a very good NBA guard, a very good athlete,’’ Walsh told The Post after the Pacers knocked out the Knicks last season. “[He’s got] great body intelligence, confidence and ambition. He was a great defender already and will get better with experience. His shooting was not broken but needed work. He obviously did it and has become a very dependable shooter. He will have a terrific career.’’

NEW YORK -- Knicks guard J.R. Smith accepts his $25,000 fine from the league for tweeting hostile and inappropriate language toward the Detroit Pistons' Brandon Jennings, but he wonders where the loyalty is between NBA players.

On Wednesday, Jennings sent out the following tweet, which was later deleted, in reference to Smith's brother, Chris Smith, who also is on the Knicks' roster: "Wait wait wait JR smith brother is in the NBA but @PoohJeter & @BBROWNLAU isn't. Call me hater but not Rollin!!!"

Smith was asked if Jennings crossed a line or broke an unspoken code between players.

"There's no loyalty in this game, so there is no loyalty player to player," Smith said before the Knicks hosted the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night. "There's no loyalty between anything in this game. I don't really expect that it should be like that, but it isn't."

Knicks coach Mike Woodson talked with Smith and warned the guard about watching what he does on social media.

"He's just got to clean up," Woodson said. "You know that, and I do. He's got to let things roll off, let it go, and just concentrate on playing basketball."

Woodson said he will not ask Smith or any of his players to stop using social media.

"There's nothing I can do about that," Woodson said. "I can't take that away from him, none of the players; I don't have the right to do that."

Smith got in trouble with his coach and the NBA when he responded to Jennings' tweet by appearing to threaten to send his "street homies" to Detroit presumably to confront Jennings.

Smith also wrote that he had "no respect" in a tweet that appeared to be directed toward Jennings.

"No respect for these lil kids who pop at the mouth on twitter an then want to delete they tweets! #GrowUp! #ManUp! @TheOnlyCSmith0 #Facts!," Smith tweeted.

Smith said he won't shut down his Twitter account.

"No, I'm not going to do that," he said. "I just have to be better at policing myself."

"[Woodson] sent the right message. It's just a matter of me doing the right thing."

Chris Smith, who hadn't appeared in a game this season entering Saturday, was activated by the Knicks before the Hawks game as Metta World Peace sat out with a sore left knee.